Teens using Tinder app for sex with strangers

Teenagers are using a popular smartphone app called Tinder to arrange sexual encounters with strangers, it has been revealed.

A 16-year-old Melbourne teenager said that app was being used by teens to find other teens who were interested in getting physical with no emotional connection, Stuff.co.nz reported.

Another 18-year-old Melbourne teenager said that she joined Tinder when she was 17 and always asked for sex via the app and a lot of teenagers used the application as a way to get sex.

La Trobe university professor Anne Mitchell said that it was quite inappropriate for 13-year-olds to have access to such an app but these things were very hard to police.

A Tinder spokeswoman said 7 per cent of Tinder users globally were 13 to 17 years old but could not provide exact figures for Australia.

Tinder is a popular app with an age restriction of 13 and above, allows users to "like" or "pass" on fellow users' profiles based on their picture, with a mutual like opening the possibility to chat via the app.